Norfolk County MA Archives Biographies.....Hodges, Willard 1792 - 1876
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Author: E. O. Jameson (1886)

   WILLARD HODGES, a lineal descendant of the traditional three brothers who
emigrated from England in the year 1635 or '40, was the second son of a father
to whom was fulfilled the scriptural blessing of a "full quiver." He was born in
1792, in the town of Norton, Mass. In a genealogical record of the Hodges
family, we read: "It will be found that, in the early history of New England it
was considered quite honorable to aspire to commissions in the militia of this
Commonwealth. The Hodges family have aspired to the commission of captain very
generally, and whether qualified or not, they have been very successful in their
aspirations. It has been remarked that in the towns of Taunton, Norton, and
Mansfield, you may call every man you meet of the name, Captain Hodges, and you
will be right about three-fourths of the time." Willard Hodges never aspired to
any title save such as is due to an honest man; and his only inheritance was his
name and the privilege of supporting his parents in their declining years. He
resided in Taunton several years, and later in Walpole. In 1824 he was married
to Hannah Smith Pond, of the good old Puritan family of the Ponds of Pondville,
in Wrentham. They settled in Franklin where they resided over thirty years,
leading a quiet, unassuming farmers'life. There they reared ten children.
Becoming too feeble for the active duties of farm life, in 1859 he moved to
Medway Village where he was only known as an old man, snowy headed, dependent on
a cane. He always drove a good horse, and like General Taylor, deemed great
occasions demanded strong language; but long after he could not hear a word of
the services, he regarded the sacredness of the Sabbath by sleeping through
Priest Sanford's sermons with a large red silk handkerchief spread carefully
over his head. His characteristics were good common sense, a powerful will, a
strong sense of justice, with rank intolerance of hypocrisy and vice. Ripe for
the harvest, he fell asleep on the eighth day of August, 1876, aged eighty-four
years, and awaits the resurrection in the Oakland Cemetery. 

Additional Comments:
THE BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES OF PROMINENT PERSONS,
AND
The Genealogical Records
OF
MANY EARLY AND OTHER FAMILIES
IN
MEDWAY, MASS. 1713-1886.
Illustrated
WITH NUMEROUS STEEL AND WOOD ENGRAVINGS.
BY
E. O. JAMESON,
THE AUTHOR OK "THE COGSWELLS IN AMERICA," "THE HISTORY OF MEDWAY, MASS." ETC.
MILLIS, MASS. 1886.

Copyright, 1886.
E. O. JAMESON, MILLIS, MASS.
All Rights Reserved.

J. A. & R. A. REID, PRINTERS, PROVIDENCE, R. I.


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